Pics of real haircuts help consumers find a salon

People like knowing what they’re getting before they open their wallets. For those looking to get a new haircut, MopShots offers an online lookbook of real cuts on real people, with details on the salons that created them. Snapshots can be submitted by anyone (including hairstylists showing off their latest work), but not every photo is accepted. Before being featured on MopShots, photos are approved by the website’s ‘Dictators’—a group of 25 fashion bloggers, stylists and tastemakers. Engaging users as they contribute, and commenting on each cut, the Dictators look for models with character rather than ones cut from a glamour magazine. MopShots stresses that its curators aren’t sponsored by hairdressers or hair product companies. Each hairstyle has its own page with up to four photos, and lists the name and location of the salon. Styles are searchable by hair colour, type, style, length or salon. The site works both as inspiration for people looking for a new style, as well as those seeking a salon based on its real-world results. Which makes sense, given that the site was created by web veteran Citysearch, which is battling Yelp for domination of the local business search arena. One to copy to other service industries? (Related: Hotel search: video completes the picture — Mapping restaurants by photos of their dishes.) Spotted by: Judy McRae Update: following Mopshots, Citysearch has launched lookbooks for four other categories: Sugar Bomber (make sweets, not war), 3 Buck Bites (cheap eats for food lovers), Lucky Toes (where’d you get those shoes?) and Veggie Thing (vegan eats for food lovers).